Every single muscle in his body burned with the sort of pain that said that he was going to be one sore person in the morning. Viktor's training was tough, but it worked, even though it took a tremendous toll on his body. Today, they had been working on landing jumps; the Salchow and Flips, and his enemy, the Lutz.

There had been lots of falling, internal swearing, and groans from the black haired man while laying flat on his face or back on the ice. Viktor had just pointed out what he had done wrong and told him to try again in that cheery accented voice he always had. And Yuri, being the sucker he was for the God of Ice skating that was coaching him, had diligently picked himself up and tried again as told.

In the end, he could now land a lutz and flip about 60% of the time, and the Salchow was burned into his muscle memory, as he had only flubbed the landing of it once during the three hours of practice time at the rink. Yuri was exhausted, and even Viktor had broken a sweat, from repeating the jumps without complaint every time Yuri had asked him to so he could observe.

They both exited the rink, now a mess of chewed up ice from practice, and headed quietly to the locker rooms to remove their skates and to put on warmer sweats to head home and eat. Yuri, after removing his skates and trying to not whine at the sudden pain from doing so. He stood after cleaning the blades and tucking his skates and back into his bag, slipping his feet into his shoes and taking another drink from his water bottle. Viktor stood there quietly, ready to go.

They both walked home, enjoying just being together for a while, basking in the other's presence while recovering from practice. Yuri knew he would definitely have to stretch and soak well tonight, and pay some attention to his feet before practice tomorrow. Little did he know, ocean green eyes were on him, taking in every detail about him and how he was moving at the moment. Viktor knew he had taken a beating from all the failed landings, and he was bound to be extremely sore, and tired.

After receiving a warm welcome from Yuri's mom, who as always, was warm and happy to see her boys home from a good practice, judging from the smiles they both wore, though tired. Yuri had found it somewhat odd when his mother first referred to Viktor and he as her boys, and had asked about it, more than a little confused. Viktor had blushed a bit when she had explained that since he and Yuri were so close and they lived together, that she had adopted Viktor into the family and considered them as her boys. The three of them, Viktor, Yuri and his mother had shared a fond smile.

Yuri fluffed Makkachin's soft ears after easing himself down to the table, Viktor moving just as carefully to kneel across from him, a fine eyebrow twitching when he strained a sore muscle. He did smile though when his dog crawled under the table to nose at his hands and get some attention, trying to make him feel a bit better. After petting his dog for a few moments, he settled down to eat the delicious meal for the night, watching Yuri eat tiredly and fidget in pain, trying to ease the soreness of his back and feet. They finished their meals in quiet silence, only broken by gentle sounds of glasses of water on the table, chopsticks against the ceramic of the bowls, and the hmm Yuri made at the taste of the rice, one of his favorites.

Both boys, understandably, let out a synchronized "Ahhh..." upon lowering themselves gingerly into the hot spring, feeling the pain and sweat wash away in the hot and swirling water. Viktor realized with a start that Yuri was starting to gain muscle that he hadn't noticed before, planes of muscle were wiry along his back and shoulders, and soft dips to his abdomen, complete with long lines of his very muscled legs. He had changed quite a bit from the time they had first met, when he was a little piggy and had put on serious weight. Yuri looked at him, meeting his eyes and blushing.

"Practice was good today." He mumbled, still a bit in awe at the god like vision of Viktor's naked body in front of him, open for his perusal. Which he did. Subtly. Or so he thought.

Viktor smiled knowingly, and with a touch of happiness, and arousal as he watched Yuri's warm brown eyes sweep over his body, where he was leaning against the edge of the spring. He himself had found himself openly checking Yuri out too, who blushed after a few seconds when he realized the ocean green eyes were melting to a darker blue green, and looking pleased at what he saw, namely, himself.

"Yes, it was. You are making some good progress. You still tend to two foot flips or catch your blades when landing a lutz or flip though." He answered, putting some thought into their practice session, and trying to not drool at the muscles twitching as Yuri shifted in the water, trying to get weight off of a sore foot.

"Ah, thanks. I'll try harder and I'll get it. I promise." He responded earnestly, totally missing the blush on Viktor's face that was not the heat of the water, but rather him getting slightly excited at watching Yuri move around. He moved forward, touching his hand to Yuri's jaw line and cupping his face, touching his forehead to a rather blushing Yuri's.

"I know you will, Yuri." His other hand dropped to touch his shoulder, and Yuri winced slightly, shifting back. Viktor frowned, and pulled back, looking for any visible marks. Yuri had several bruises along his left hip, and right shoulder, and along his chest, but the worst ones were on his hip. He fidgeted but Viktor didn't pull away, instead touching his fingertips just barely along the bruises along his hip and shoulder, tracing the blotchy marks. The skin was soft, and the muscles tense and hard, probably due to the pain and the fact that Viktor knew he was nervous. He pulled away, and swam back a bit, meeting the nervous brown eyes.

"You're bruised. Take it easy on that back and stretch well for a few days. I'll help you with the tension." He said, his accented tones worried, and his eyes reflecting that worry.

Yuri blushed a shade of red that unique to him alone, and nodded, replying with, "A-a-ah. Y-yeah. Okay."

Viktor grinned a slightly evil grin, and gingerly climbed out of the bath, missing the look of worry from Yuri at the stunting movement, where he was normally so smooth and graceful. He wasn't the only one who had overworked himself.

It took some work, but the two eventually exited the spring and went to go sit in the now vacant sitting room, in front of the fire on the soft shiki there. Yuri gave up and finally laid down, hair damp and everything, and Viktor raised an eyebrow, more than worried. He hadn't even removed his towel from around his neck, and needless to say, that concerned him. He huffed a gentle sigh and grinned slightly, coming to sit by his love's head, and lifted his head up enough to slip the towel free and then lower his head to rest on his lap.

Yuri didn't mumble a word of protest, and didn't even blush, and Viktor looked at him, studying him for a moment while he gently dried the last dampness out of his black hair. His skin was paler than normal, and his eyes were closed in exhausted; he was clothed in just a pair of sweat pants and a t shirt, his usual sleep wear. As he set the towel aside, and just ran his fingers through his student's hair, the tired, but beautiful brown eyes opened and looked at him. Yuri was beyond exhausted, but he was also in pain, and as those brown eyes met his ocean green ones, they melted into a beautiful blue.

"Yuri, will you stay with me tonight?" He asked quietly, never stopping the gentle petting of his fingers through the black hair.

His eyes widened and his face turned pink. 'So cute!'

"Ah-ah... S-Sure." He mumbled, flopping an arm over his now blushing face. 'I didn't just agree to that... Noo...'

"Well, come on then, I'm tired. Let's get to sleep." He rose, and he was surprised to feel even his own legs shaking from tiredness. Yuri, however, had to roll to his knees and then shakily stand, he was so exhausted. Viktor led the way to his room, letting Yuri enter first, and then followed behind, shutting the door quietly. Makkachin was already plopped on the large bed, and his fluffy tail wagged happily when Viktor sat down on the bed next to him, patting the space next to him for Yuri. The dark haired male blushed, but slowly came over to sit down next to Viktor on the bed, petting Makkachin's fluffy ears, and relaxing a bit when he realized Viktor had no devious plans for right then.

Slowly, over the next few minutes, Yuri found himself laying down, spooned up to the taller form of Viktor Nikiforov, both cuddled under the thick quilt. They both had somehow managed to lose their shirts while laying down, but he didn't find himself minding, even as Viktor's palms smoothed over the taut skin of his abdomen and just barely over his chest, feeling the warmth and rhythm of his breath. Yuri could feel the steady rise and fall of the muscled planes along his back as Viktor's body relaxed into slumber, the weight of his body starting to fall onto the smaller male.

Their legs were tangled together, one of Victor's long limbs between Yuri's legs, and one arm underneath his pillow. Yuri just inched slightly closer to the already relaxed man behind him, and reveled in the welcoming squeeze he got from the arm around his waist, and the hitch of breath he felt along his neck, just below his ear. He could feel sleep weighting down his eyelids, making them heavy, and he made sure his glasses were safely on the bedside table before allowing his eyes to close, finally feeling his body relax. His spine popped in several places, and he felt his hips drop to the bed, and a deep sigh left his chest. The blankets were warm and heavy, and Viktor was oh-so-warm behind him. He could hear Makkachin's whine as he rolled over and stretched out by their feet, and he found that he had never before felt so comfortable.

So needless to say, Viktor was surprised when he heard Yuri mumble one last thing to him before dropping off into the deep sleep he desperately needed.

"Я люблю тебя."

End.

Translation:

Я люблю тебя: I love you.